PROMPT

“That proves you are unusual,” returned the Scarecrow; “and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.” ― L. Frank Baum, The Land of Oz

“They make us look good you know.”

“Who do?”

“The plain, the ordinary, the man and woman in the street. Without them, we’d just be weird. But because of them, we stand out, the eccentric beings who add a layer to life most only ever dream about or prefer to deny.”

We stopped at that comment to let it soak in and decide if we thought it reasonable or not. We looked at one another judging each other as being the unusual or just another leaf on the tree.

We didn’t think of ourselves as ‘common folk’, and we certainly didn’t want to go through life being unnoticed. Who would want that we collectively thought?

Amongst our number were people of merit and substance. There was the artist, who exhibited in galleries around the country, the writer whose recent effort had resulted in a best seller and the actor who after years of trying had finally hit the big time, at least in his head.

We were proud of the status we had achieved but we concluded we couldn’t have gotten to this stage in our lives without the common folk, after all, they were the ones who attended our opening and readings, they purchased our products, watched our performances and spread the word that we were people who deserved some form of success.

We didn’t ever have to prove we were unusual; we were who we were, we did what we did, and we were good at it. Nature had given us our talents, and we were fortunate to be able to exercise them to the degree we did.

In some cases that was what it was all about. Everyone had the opportunity to exercise their talents, but not everyone received the opportunity to realise them. We were lucky that way but always acknowledged the role the common folk played in our success.

Even those that we may consider common have strengths that set them apart. being an expert house cleaner or dishwasher may not garner the prestige of an artist, an actor, or a writer, but they are valuable skills not everyone possesses just the same. Maybe we need to rethink whom we applaud.